Sensing devices of many different types are commonly employed in a variety of environments and applications. Sensing devices encompass a broad spectrum of devices including, for example, various light-sensing devices such as laser-sensing devices, light sensing devices that are capable of distinguishing among different colors of visible light, and devices for sensing various other types of radiation including infrared radiation or heat, microwave radiation, and x-ray radiation. Additionally, other sensing devices include, for example, devices that are capable of sensing the position of other structures, acoustic sensors, vibration sensors, motion sensors such as accelerometers, orientation sensors involving gyroscopes, and numerous other types of sensing devices.
Sensing devices are employed in a wide variety of industrial, commercial, military, residential and other environments and applications. For example, in industrial environments, light sensors are often employed in conjunction with conveyor systems/assembly line structures. Such light sensors are often used to detect the presence of objects moving down an assembly line and to determine whether a given object has entered or exited a particular region of the assembly line. Light sensors of similar design can also be used in residential applications, for example, in connection with garage door openers. Also for example, in many commercial facilities as well as residential homes, various sensing devices are used in security systems in order to detect the presence of potential intruders within or nearby those facilities or homes. Sensing devices can further be implemented on vehicles, for example, to detect the presence of objects behind vehicles. Indeed, sensing devices are ubiquitous in today's modem world.
In many circumstances, it is desirable that sensing devices be able to be mounted in simple, user-friendly manners. Yet conventional mechanisms for mounting sensing devices often lack such desired simplicity and user-friendliness. For example, many sensing devices are mounted onto other structures by way of awkward or heavy brackets or by way of screws or other parts. Mounting of the sensing devices onto the support structure through the use of these brackets and other components often requires (or is facilitated by) the use of various tools, and in various circumstances can be complicated due to the configuration of the support structures on which the sensing devices are being mounted. For example, in some cases, it may be difficult to tighten a screw or bolt in order to attach the sensing device and supporting bracket onto the support structure where there is insufficient room for the person performing the installation to insert a tool such as a screwdriver or a wrench. Also, to the extent that these mounting mechanisms for sensing devices require small parts such as screws, installation of the sensing devices can become cumbersome simply due to the possibility of the person performing the installation dropping or losing the small parts.
For at least these reasons, therefore, it would be advantageous if improved mounting mechanisms or structures for use in mounting sensing devices to other support structures could be developed. In particular, in at least some embodiments, it would be desirable if such improved mounting mechanisms facilitated the simple and quick installation of sensing devices without the use of many small parts or cumbersome tools.